I used our carrier car seat for all of a week before I realized I preferred to just carry the baby in the baby bjorn. Yea, it kind of sucked to take him out of the seat when he was sleeping, but I never minded dealing with that more than lugging the car seat around. He'd usually fall right back to sleep in the front carrier.

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After a lot of wrenched neck muscles and bruised shins, we realized that switching and swapping car seats in and out of vehicles was a huge waste of time. It was just much easier to ease a napping newborn into a sling.

We bit the bullet and purchased car seats for each and every vehicle we own PLUS infant and toddler safety seats for grandmothers who might be tempted to think that safety belts would be "just fine" because they didn't always use car seats for us. I checked and tried to get car seats with good resale value so that even though we bought a few of them used; we would get some money back.

Jan from http://www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com/

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I just moved the baby (6 1/2 months) out of the carrier and into the big carseat today. I have calluses on my hands from carrier the baby in the infant carrier -- anyone else?

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Sorry, (she will) always be small--my husband is 34yo 6ft tall and 135 lbs---I am 34 5'3 and 120--My 12 yo doesn't weigh 90 lbs and that's mostly chest(UGH!) My 30 yo sister and 12 yo daughter were the same clothes.

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I found that the only infant car seats that don't wrench on my back when carrying them around are the ones with the swivel handle...looks like a no smoking sign if you can visualize it that way. They also have ones with handles that have a little zig zag in the handle that is almost as good. Really anything that lets you hold the carrier with your wrist facing your thigh alleviates ALOT of the strain.

Side note: Didn't you mention that the doctor said the wee babe was stronger or had a preference for looking a certain direction? Maybe it's because he is being held mostly on your left side and always looking toward the right to face his momma. Unless of course he favors looking left, then my theory's bunk. Just a thought...

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You take the carrier out of the base before you carry him around in it, right? I just ask because in the picture the seat is sitting in the base and I can't even imagine how heavy that would be with the base attached.

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I'd carry the baby (or use a stroller) and leave the seat or make someone else carry it or sling it on your back. (The snugli thing I have doubles as outerwear, so you can leave your kid in it when in the car seat, and just hook up the straps when you reach your destination. Unfortunately, I've never used the snugli thing, so I don't know how "easy" this actually is.) Or you can get one of those things that convert the seat to a stroller without adding a ton of weight. Or just rough it like everyone did before they invented convertible car seat / carriers.

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We purchased an Orbit Baby system mosty for that reason. I slipped a disc my first trimester and was paranoid I'd do it again once I started schleping the carseat around. The Orbit has a soft handle so you can hold it flush to your body vs carrying it outward. It also snaps into the base facing you and then you swivel it to face backwards. It elminates much of the awkwardness with infant carriers. My daugther is 20 lbs, 7 mos and I'm actually fine carrying it as long/far as I need to. http://orbitbaby.com/products/ois.html

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We had a Maxi Cosi Cabrio that went up to 30 lbs. She outgrew it length wise long before she hit 30 lbs. I use to put it over my arm and hold it in the crook of my elbow, with the weight of the seat balanced on my hip.

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At first when my daughter was still newborn we'd carry it nearly everywhere but as she got heavier we preferred to carry her ourselves if the weather was good enough, if not my hubby carried it lol and even he had a hard time. It's heavier than the one my parents have for her but not by much. Since she can sit up on her own now I don't carry it at all, I carry her in my arms or in a baby bjorn, take a stroller, or sit her in the grocery cart if we are at the grocery store. No sense breaking your back over a carseat and I don't like the idea of my baby rattling around inside the carseat that i'm struggling to carry.

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With ten pound newborns, I abandoned the bucket carriers quickly. After a month or so with each child I just started tossing them into my sling. If they were asleep, I simply cursed first, then tossed them into my sling! (where they fell asleep again usually) If it weighs enough to be uncomfortable lugging around, it is time to start leaving it in the car. After you get used to it, you'll realize it feels easier in the long run anyway.

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I meant to comment about the turning head to the left thing that you mentioned on the pediatrician post. My guess was that you hold him on your left side, so he's always looking at the world, which would appear to his left.

Just a theory.

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Linda, try this:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=533870&cmSource=Search

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The key to carrying the baby bucket is that you should not carry it in your hand(s). (A fact that I discovered after giving myself a fun case of carpal tunnel that even a decade of full-time computer work didn't cause.)

I carry the infant seat hooked over my forearm, up near the elbow (on the meatiest part of the forearm) - sort of like you'd carry a dressy purse with a handle when you need one hand for a drink and one hand to shake hands with. That keeps the bucket closer to your body (not nearly as much bouncing around), gives you two hands free to hold other things, and uses your stronger upper arm/shoulder muscles instead of the forearm and wrist.

(The only drawback is that during the warmer months, I realized I had pretty much constant bruises on my arms from the bucket, but they weren't really painful. Not like the evil carpal tunnel, for sure!)

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I loop my left arm through the handle and rest the seat against my hip as I move. Sure, it makes me extra wide and I don't need any more help in that area, thankyouverymuch, and going through doors sucks because I have to shuffle sideways, but it beats not being able to carry it. I'm using my bicep more than my forearm by carrying it this way, and the seat doesn't bounce as much against my hip.

But here's a novel idea: how bout the carseat manufacturers figure out a way to make the seat just as sturdy but about 89234875 lbs lighter? As soon as my daughter is able to hold her head up, I'll be taking her out of the seat wherever we go and just leaving it in the car anyway.

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Oh, yea, they are loads of fun added with the diaper bag bogged down for the toddler AND the newborn, the apnea monitor, and the toddler on the other hip. I actually sprained my breast joint (?, didn't know I had one, doc) while my oldest was still in her carrier, because I carried the carrier and the diaper bag on my right side. Lots of tests ensued, including a mammogram to draw that conclusion.

My friend and I weighed the Graco infant carrier while it was empty on a vet's scale. It weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 8 pounds. Add the weight of your little monster. . . umm I mean darling little precious, and there you have it, the strain on your back, wrist, neck and arms every day!

For the record: I did not get ripped arms.

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Hate to say it but (compared to me anyway) you're a giant pussy. I have the same carseat but my now three month old is already over twenty pounds. I hook it over my right arm (right handed), at the elbow, but carry it in front of me with his feet pointing towards my left arm. There's less jostling which makes it much easier. I'm not insane though. Once the weather warms up a bit more he will be switching to his convertable carseat.

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We have twins, and once they started getting kinda heavy I tried to minimize how much I had to carry both carseats at the same time. I could manage from the living room to the kitchen, but not much farther than that. Just carrying one though, I usually hooked it over my forearm and lugged it around in front of me. I had a nice collection of bruises on my arm from that.

Our girls outgrew their Snugrides (labeled for 26"/20#) at 7 months. I miss those buckets -- lugging them in and out of their convertible seats sucks!! I can't do it without waking them up.

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